Trans fats, the real culprit of western ill-health.

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Trans fats

Many of the random compounds created when oils are
hydrogenated are so-called "trans fats" or, more correctly, trans-fatty
acids. These are unnatural compounds, which are known to be detrimental
to health. In order to understand why, we need to consider some of the
chemistry involved. (not too much, I promise).

A natural, unsaturated fatty acid might look like the
molecule below. It has several double-bonds between adjacent carbon
atoms, which is what makes it "unsaturated". (saturated fats have no
double bonds and all the "spaces" available are taken up by hydrogen
atoms.

(These diagrams are simplified for easier understanding and were kindly provided by Andrew Kern to replace my rather poor previous effort!)

When this oil is hydrogenated, it is not possible to control where the
hydrogen atoms are added to the structure. If both hydrogen atoms are
added to the same side of the structure, it is called a "Cis" fat. Cis
fats exist naturally and, because the hydrogen atoms are crowded on one
side of the molecule, they bend, allowing other chemicals and enzymes to
bind to them.

If, however one hydrogen atom adds to one side of the structure and the
other atom to the other side, it creates trans fats, like the one below.
Trans fats do not exist naturally, with a very few exceptions. Because
the structure is uncrowded, they do not bend and so other molecules and
enzymes find it more difficult to bind to them. The shape of the
molecule is therefore vital to its function, much in the same way as the
shape of a key is important for the operation of a lock.

In fact, it is the very fact that they are straight that
allows trans fats to solidify at room temperature. Natural, cis fats are
curved and so can't pack into a crystal formation at normal
temperatures. Trans fats, on the other hand, are straight and CAN pack
into a crystal formation, which allows them to solidify at room
temperature.

The health implications of trans fats were recognised as early as 1958,
when Dr Ancel Keys reported that he believed that hydrogenated
vegetable oils with their trans fats components were responsible for the
sudden and significant increase in ischaemic heart disease
over the previous decade. The response was predictable - the oil
manufacturers buried the research and began the false attack on animal
fats.

More recently, University of Maryland researched Dr Mary Enig proved in 1978 that the increased cancer rates were directly associated with total fat intake and vegetable fat intake
but not with consumption of animal fat. Dr Enig, who is a consultant
clinician, specialising in nutrition has since spent the last 25 years
warning of the dangers of trans fats and the relative safety of animal
fats.

In fact, even the Harvard School of Public Health
has issued a warning regarding the comsumption of margarines, snack
foods and other foods containing hydrogenated oils (and their trans
fats), in favour of butter.

Recognition of the dangers of trans fats
More recently, concern over the role of trans fats in disease has led a
number of major food companies to remove these components from their
products. this is probably a response to the recent FDA ruling that, as
of 2006, all food labels must include the proportion of trans fats in
addition to other fat content.

For now, a good guide is the amount of hydrogenated fat,
and how high up the list of ingredients it is. The higher the listing,
the more trans fat there is. If you want to be more specific, add up the
listings of the other fats and take it away from the total fat content,
the difference is usually all trans fats.

If this is too much, there are a few simple rules
you can use to avoid trans fats. Firstly, avoid all products that list
hydrogenated oil as an ingredient. Secondly, use only natural vegetable
oil or animal-based fats (butter, ghee, lard, dripping) for cooking. If
there is not a nutritional label on the food you buy, refer to the list
below for products that are usually high in trans fats.

Very occasionally, trans fats do occur in nature. The most commonly known is conjugated linoleic acid
(CLA). Unlike its synthetic counterparts, CLA is known to have many
health benefits, however, these benefits are not in any way shared with
the synthetic trans fats produced during hydrogenation.

Further reading

Know Your Fats : The Complete Primer for Understanding the Nutrition of Fats, Oils and Cholesterol
by Mary G. Enig

Cholesterol
Public enemy number one. Or is it - find out why cholesterol is not the baddie it has been made out to be and why you need it!

Essential fatty acids
Otherwise known as "brain food", these fats can't be made in the body and must be in the diet. Unfortunately, in many cases they are almost totally missing, leading to numerous health (and psychiatric / social) problems.

Vegetable oils
All oils are not created equal. Find out why some vegetable oils are better than others.

Hydrogenated oils (unsaturated or poly-unsaturated fats)Margarine, shortening and other "low-cholesterol" fats. Find out why these have caused more damage to health than any other type of oils or fats.